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social-emotional learning
Digital LiteracySocial-Emotional Learning

Empowering Students Through Digital Citizenship and Social-Emotional Learning

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Society, including education, has significantly changed even from just five short years ago. Technology has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, and that affects how we interact with one another. With this in mind, how do we empower students for life as adults in this new paradigm?

    • First, students need to be socially aware of others, as well as their own behavior.
    • Second, they need to be accountable for their actions and learning in both the real and digital world.
    •  Third, they need to become technology savvy while learning to use it appropriately.

Has technology hindered students from understanding the impact their behavior has on others? Or have we simply relaxed as a culture regarding common courtesy?  Whatever the reason, school districts are turning to social-emotional learning hoping to empower students to be contributing members of society.

What Is Social-Emotional Learning?

Respect yourself.org defines social awareness as the ability to understand the emotions and needs of others while using emotional cues. Many students today are struggling socially and emotionally. Some are becoming self-focused and lack empathy and compassion towards others.  These skills were once taught at home.  Now it appears the school system is becoming more involved in helping students navigate their emotions and learn from social cues.  Social-Emotional Learning educates the whole child using a systematic approach to teach students how to understand and control their emotions, build empathy, and foster relationships (Clayton, 2017). In order to become a contributing member of society and a positively engaged citizen, it is important to possess these skills.

Developing Digital Citizens

Being a responsible citizen also includes being a responsible digital citizen. Mike Ribble defines digital citizenship as “the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.” He further states there are nine elements of digital citizenship including:

  • Digital Access
  • Digital Commerce
  • Digital Communication
  • Digital Literacy
  • Digital Etiquette
  • Digital Law
  • Digital Rights and Responsibilities
  • Digital Health and Wellness
  • Digital Security.

Each one is important, but I feel in order to best teach appropriate online behavior while developing appropriate social skills, it is important to focus on Digital Etiquette and Digital Rights and Responsibilities.

In order to understand the ramifications of how their behavior can impact others, students first need to understand their rights and responsibilities as both a real-world and a digital citizen. Rights and responsibilities include the privileges, rules, and expectations we have as citizens. Unfortunately, many people act differently online due to the anonymity provided by their computer screen and the internet. We may say and do things online we would not do when speaking with someone face to face. In fact, it appears we have become desensitized to the effect our behavior has on others.

Technology-Based Solutions

Digital curriculum, such as that available through Common Sense, empowers students to behave appropriately online. Another solution, Ripple Effects, is a technology-based, social-emotional learning program that can be personalized to the needs of your campus and students. It is a tiered intervention program. Tier 1, Universal, includes charter education and life skills teaching all students how to be more aware of themselves and empathetic towards others. Tier 2, Targeted Prevention, provides targeted intervention to students with some risk factors, giving individualized mental health supports and consequences for negative actions. Tier 3, Indicated Intervention, provides intensive intervention behavior support for students at risk. The tutorials address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. For this reason, using social-emotional learning programs lets students handle their emotions more effectively and become more compassionate and empathetic towards others. The fact is a technology-based curriculum will most likely help hold the attention of students and keep them engaged.

Providing Voice and Choice

Regardless of our own personal technology proficiency, teachers must embrace and utilize technology proficiently themselves if they are going to empower their students. Students need to master basic computer skills such as creating a word document, slide presentations, and spreadsheets, but they also need advanced skills such as video design, social media integration, gaming, etc. It is also important to use a learner-centered approach that provides active learning opportunities involving choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning, otherwise known as COVA (Harapnuik, 2018).

Choice provides personalized learning through guided discovery. In essence, students are free to choose how they want to develop, create, and present their evidence of learning. By doing so, students have ownership over their learning, which typically leads to an increase in engagement. When students are encouraged to use their own voice, their level of understanding and mastery deepens. All things considered, authentic learning experiences provide students with the power to utilize resources and tools that engage and motivate them, which ultimately makes learning more relevant.

Empowering the Next Generation

Education today is so much more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Today’s educators need to be equipped with the means to grow our students academically, socially, and emotionally by utilizing digital tools and advances in technology to assist them. Digital citizenship, social awareness, and technological proficiency are key to empowering students to grow into productive and contributing members of our society.  Above all, it is time to acknowledge the current challenges facing education, our students, teachers, administrators, and society as a whole and begin an open and honest dialogue on the changes needed in education.  Failure to do so may be detrimental to future generations.

References:

Clayton, V. (2017). The psychological approach to educating kids.  The Atlantic Retrieved on April 25, 2018 from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/the-social-emotional-learning-effect/521220/

EdTech. (2018). The digital citizenship curriculum: digital literacy, cyber hygiene and more. Retrieved on April 19, 2018 from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/04/The-Digital-Citizenship-Curriculum-Digital-Literacy-Cyber-Hygiene-and-More-perfcon

It’s All About the Learning. (2018). COVA. Retrieved on April 26, 2018 from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education

Ripple Effects. (2018). Retrieved on April 26, 2018 from https://rippleeffects.com/

Thibodeaux, T. N., Harapnuik, D. K, & Cummings, C. D. (2017). Factors that contribute to ePortfolio persistence. International Journal of ePortfolio, 7(1), p. 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP257.pdf

This is a guest blog by Dina Perez. Dina is a history teacher at Cockrill Middle School in Mckinney ISD.

 

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disinformation
Digital LiteracyGood Teaching

Empowering Students in the Disinformation Age

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

What was once the Information Age is rapidly becoming the Disinformation Age, where any information online can be used to support any viewpoint, even those that are patently false. With unrestricted internet access just a few taps on the smartphone away, it is impossible to monitor our students’ online activities constantly. We cannot be on hand to tell them what is right or wrong or true or false. Sometimes, we’re not even sure ourselves.

As educators, it falls to us to teach our students a measure of responsibility when they go online. The internet has infiltrated almost every aspect of education. We use it to take attendance, contact parents, look for activities, and do research. Our hope is that our students are using it for research and educational games.

Developing Digital Detectives

When we ask our students to write a paper, we are turning them loose in a virtual sandbox where, to them, every source is reliable. But we know that this is not the case at all! No educator has time to personally vet every source a student uses, especially at the middle and secondary levels when we have 80+ students. Instead, we must empower our students to determine what sources are reliable for themselves.

To start the lesson, I displayed a picture of a suspicious character I found online. I asked my students “Would you trust this man?” It was a resounding “No!” I asked them why.

“He’s weird looking!”

“He’s a stranger!”

“He looks dangerous.”

Through a visual check, they were able to determine that the person they were looking at could not be trusted. I explained that it’s impossible to examine a website and know for sure whether or not it’s reliable. But there are some signs that a website may need secondary confirmation before it can be trusted.

Signs of Suspicious Sources

Websites may not be reliable if the following visual features are present:

  • Clickbait titles (“This man found a door in his house! You won’t believe what happens next!”)
  • Pop-up ads or dozens of ads
  • Strange or overly-colorful fonts and backgrounds
  • Uncommon domain endings (Generally, anything that doesn’t end in .org, .edu, .com, or .gov)

Be sure to emphasize that while the above are definitely things to keep in mind, they are by no means the only way to tell if a website is unreliable. Personal websites may have none of the features above and present themselves as reliable, yet be full of disinformation.

More Information on Disinformation

It’s also important to explain why these websites may not be reliable. My students were very familiar with clickbait and understood that the person running the website (or organization) is only looking for clicks on ads. They don’t care if the information is accurate or not, as long as they can get people looking at the ads and clicking on things. Pop-up ads may even hijack a browser, and it’s important to show the students how to defeat these. (Just close the tab or browser and restart it.)

Students need to know what websites can be generally relied upon and why. Generally, websites with .gov and .edu endings are to be trusted given that they are reserved for use by the government and educational institutions with a vested interest in being trustworthy. Additionally, .com websites are the most common, so it’s not unusual to see this domain type. But it doesn’t make a website reliable. The .org ending is most commonly used for charitable organizations, but these may have an agenda as well.

An Exercise in Critical Thinking

To further empower the students, challenge them to think critically. What is the author of this website trying to accomplish? What is this article trying to say? Most importantly, why? If we encourage them to think about the hows and whys, they may begin to learn for themselves what’s true and what’s false or what seems to be true or false. Where did the source come from? Is it a website that looks and acts strangely? Did someone share this on social media?

Last of all, tell students about fact-checking websites where they can go and find information about what they’re reading themselves. Politifact, Snopes, and factcheck.org are all reliable sites that students can use to check what they’re hearing, reading, and seeing. They should also see if any other websites they know they can trust have the same information.

Students are more discriminating than we think.  The important thing is to teach them to question the information being presented. Through these lessons, we teach students to be self-reliant, critical thinkers and empower them to navigate an increasingly-confusing world.

This is a guest blog by Jeff Hewitt. Hewitt is a Language Arts educator in Georgia, where he has been teaching for three years. He is also a freelance writer and author. Follow his blog at www.jeffhewittwrites.com or @jhewittwrites on Twitter.

 

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digital resilience
Educational TrendsGood TeachingUncategorized

Teaching Digital Resilience

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

In today’s world, much of our society happens online. It’s where people socialize, share ideas, and debate. However, it also isn’t without potential dangers.  Extremist groups recruit online. Cyberspace has been added to land, air, and sea as the fourth arena of warfare. Just as we teach students how to be safe and healthy and to be good citizens in the real world, we now need to help them develop online life skills.

Keeping Ahead of the Curve

There is so much technology developing so fast that it can seem daunting to keep up. As soon as we’ve figured out one platform students love, they’re on to the next. The revelations about social media sites, privacy, security, and data collection come at such a dizzying pace that it is hard for most adults to put on their own digital oxygen masks, much less help the child next to them.

Fortunately, the technology itself is mostly irrelevant for providing students with the foundation they need to develop digital resilience and be good digital citizens. And it isn’t that different from what we’ve been teaching them all along for succeeding in life.

Developing Digital Resilience

Digital resilience is the technical, emotional, and critical thinking skills students (and educators) need to enjoy the benefits of the internet while still spotting the dangers and managing the risks.

Let’s start by taking a look at the potential risks students may encounter online. They could stumble upon or have risky content shared by others on their social media feeds. This content could include violent or pornographic imagery or pro-suicide or pro-anorexia. They are open to grooming by sexual predators, recruitment by extremist groups, stalking, and bullying. Like adults, they can be subject to identity theft, phishing, and accidentally downloading malicious code.

Keep Things Private

Kids are so adept at snapping, tweeting, posting, commenting, and hashtagging that it may seem they have the technical skills to manage their safety online. But they may not know how, or think to block an online harasser. They may not be checking their privacy or location settings.

A good conversation to have around a popular social platform is “What are the privacy settings? What information am I sharing that I don’t realize I’m sharing? Who is able to see what I’m sharing? Who may be watching me online?”

Keep Communication Open

Kids face the same emotional challenges online that they face on the playground or in the cafeteria. And they tend to have a stronger reaction to online harassment than real life incidents. They also tend to feel more ashamed of and hide online harassment. If you impart just one message to your students about their online lives, encourage them to seek support and help from an adult if they have any online interaction that makes them uncomfortable.

Make Vetting Online Content a Teachable Moment

In this age of doctored photos, fake videos, memes, misinformation, disinformation, and online trolls, each of us needs to sharpen our critical thinking skills on online content. This is really just a fresh source for examples on fact vs. opinion, point of view, and evaluating the source of information. One challenge with using actual content your students have encountered online is it may contain sensitive material. It would be wise to address this with your administration.

Digital Citizenship

The other side of the online coin is digital citizenship. As we teach students about being a good citizen in their real-life communities, it is time to extend those lessons and discussions to include what a good citizen does online.

Be Kind

Just like in real life, good digital citizens don’t bully. They are polite. They think about how their words make the other person feel. People of all ages tend to quickly sink to rude and bullying exchanges online that they wouldn’t in person. Let’s teach our students to think about the person behind that profile picture.

Be a Leader

Good digital citizens are leaders online. They vet information before they share it. They avoid sharing junk information like memes. They lead by example in how they engage with others and refuse to be baited into name-calling.

Be Careful of Your Digital Footprint

Students also need to think about their permanent online record and how the way they engage online now could impact a future job or other opportunities. There is a saying “The internet never forgets.” Even if you delete something, you never know who downloaded it or took a screenshot. With internet archive tools like the Way Back Machine, everything that has ever been posted online is archived and retrievable.

When thinking about how to help your students develop their digital resilience and digital citizenship skills, look to the lessons you are already teaching on emotional resilience, critical thinking, and personal safety. Incorporate examples and discussion of what these things look like online.

More Resources to Teach These Skills

This is a guest blog by Lydia Snider. Snider served as an educator for nearly 20 years, primarily as a K-5 resource specialist.  After leaving teaching, she spent about a decade in the California tech scene and working as a consultant helping companies understand how to use social media for business.

 

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hashtag heroism
Digital LiteracyEducational Trends

Hashtag Heroism: Rise Against the Wind

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Are you ready to save the world, one hashtag at a time? Why not engage in hashtag heroism? This is an attempt to save the world with hashtags that show unity and respect. It is life-affirming to engage in hashtag heroism, and I invite you to share your positive story. Tag your efforts on the behalf of others using these hashtags:

#hashtagheroism #tcea

Be unafraid to show how you, or perhaps others who have have helped you, have risen against the wind…the winds of adversity, oppression, and personal obstacles. Of course, how is this relevant in the classroom? Empowering children to speak up and to find their voices can be one of the most important actions adults model for younger learners.

What is a hashtag?
A hashtag…make[s] it less demanding for users to discover messages on a particular topic or substance.

Struggle

My first introduction to hashtag heroism came during the 2017 TCEA Convention & Exposition. I found myself fascinated by the evening news. Since I happened to be playing with Typorama (a quote-making iOS app), I felt compelled to make a few images. I shared them via Instagram and then Twitter. Were these acts of hashtag heroism? It depends on your perspective. While hashtag heroism never replaces action, it does offer a way to galvanize others to action. In this blog entry, we’ll explore hashtag heroism and how technology can amplify student voices.

hashtag heroism

Frederick Douglass’ words, which I heard for the first time at an AVID Conference from Mary Catherine Swanson, have stuck with me down the long years.

Power Concedes Nothing

One event that exemplifies the power of a hashtag is the use of the #ShePersisted hashtag, which was meant to show the indomitable spirit of women in the face of oppression. It’s about standing up and helping others. Hashtag heroism is often about turning a negative experience into an opportunity to connect, to join hands, and to move forward. In the past, the time lag between a problem that needed solving and the communication efforts required to address it was long. Now, that time gap has been closed and the lag shortened.

#ShePersisted – Add Your Own to this Google Photos Album

As you might imagine, women who persist in the face of adversity and oppression of all sorts rise against the wind. Consider Malala’s story (read her children’s book) as one example. The hashtag #metoo highlights the struggle against sexual harassment and oppression. Whether you agree with hashtag heroism efforts like #metoo or not, it’s clear that these efforts have the potential to go global.

Today, our children have access to powerful communication tools. These empower them, as transmediated learners, to take action in the ways that are as effective as those of adults. Our children are introduced to these social media approaches at home, in school, and on their own. As educators, it is our responsibility to introduce them to social media uses that are responsible and appropriate and that focus on learning. Young learners are becoming hashtag heroes with the help of teachers. “If one girl can change the world, imagine what 130 million could do?,” asks Malala. It is a question each of us would do well to ask our own children and our own students.

#OneSmall Thing

Another example of #hashtagheroism is  the #OneSmallThing hashtag that encourages users to share one small step they are taking toward a larger goal. “We invite teachers to tackle small change in a big way,” say Melissa White and Lacey Snyder (Teacher2Teacher). Big impacts can come from making small changes, one at a time. These can add up to big changes, these teachers assert. This is a great example of #hashtagheroism.

#OneSmallThing’s free toolkit (@Teacher2Teacher) offers some suggestions to get started, such as:

  1. Give yourself some time to think. Consider an area of practice you’ve been wanting to improve.
  2. Zoom in. Ask yourself “What’s a single, concrete step I can take toward this goal?” Use this framing: I will [your #OneSmallThing] to [your larger goal].
  3. Check out the #OneSmallThing inspiration library. Their inspiration library features other teachers’ #OneSmallThing ideas. You can pick one from the library to serve as inspiration while you write your own.
  4. Enter your own #OneSmallThing into their generator in 100 characters or less.
  5. Share your #OneSmallThing!

Their efforts have spurred more #hashtagheroism:

Call to Action

How will you empower your students to become hashtag heroes, to “make small changes in a big way?” Allow me to invite you to pick a local problem and make an effort to shine some sunlight on it. Rely on social media to focus the spotlight of human interest that will engage your learners, no matter their age. Will you rise up and show others how you do it?

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digital citizenship
Digital Literacy

Celebrate Digital Citizenship Week

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Digital Citizenship Week, every third week in October, is the perfect time for you and your students to reflect on the role technology plays in your lives. It’s an opportunity to stress the importance of positive online habits, to learn about digital safety and responsibility, and to encourage acts of kindness.

During a recent Lunch and Learn webinar, we shared some tremendous resources to help you celebrate Digital Citizenship Week. Whether you’re looking  to celebrate just this week or throughout the year, we have activities and resources that are sure to help you.

Activities

Three Kind Things

The latest social media app that all the kids are crazy about is the New Nice App. The app comes with a twist—it’s nice. The tbh app, short for “to be honest,” works by letting users send anonymous compliments to their friends and contacts. That being said, I created an activity that focuses on being kind. With this Google Slide activity, students write three kind things they will do. Next, they design their friendly ghost. The ghost doesn’t even have to look like Casper! Try it here by choosing an empty slide and listing three nice things you will do today. Get a copy of this Three Kind Things Ghost Activity here.

 

Positive Digital Footprint

A digital footprint is a trail of data you create while using the Internet. It includes the websites you visit, emails you send, and information you submit to online services. Have students think about what their digital footprint will look like 10 to 15 years from now. Allow them to illustrate their footprint with words, images, or videos. Try it here by choosing an empty slide. Get a copy of this Positive Digital Footprint Activity here.

A Good Digital Citizen Grid

Being a good digital citizen is more than being a safe Internet user. It’s about being responsible and smart and having respect for yourself and others. Have your students engage in conversation about the importance of being a good digital citizen through Flip. Check out this example from Berkeley County School District, where elementary students responded with their thoughts. 

More Activities

Don’t forget to visit the blog Google-ize Your Digital Citizenship that I wrote last year. It contains more activities, such as a Digital Citizenship Pledge, a Responsible Use Policy Scavenger Hunt, and more.

Resources

Below are more awesome resources to take advantage of.

Be Internet Awesome – Google, in collaboration with online safety experts, developed the Be Internet Awesome program. The program teaches the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety. In addition to a curriculum for teachers, the program includes Interland, an online game that puts these critical lessons into hands-on practice for students.

BrainPOP’s Free Digital Citizenship Resources – BrainPOP’s free digital citizenship resources offer schools ready-made learning pathways. These pathways explore topics such as Information Privacy, Media Literacy, and Digital Etiquette. Be sure to check out the Teaching Resources, too. They include a guide, video overviews,  rubrics, and lesson plans. More information can be found at Making the Online World a Better Place Starts With You. Get registered here.

Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Week Activities – Common Sense Media lists activities you can do to celebrate kids using technology safely, responsibly, and respectfully. Below are a few resources from Common Sense Media.

Microsoft Educator Community Digital Citizenship Resources – The Microsoft Educator Community offers a digital citizenship course for educators. Educators can earn a “Microsoft Digital Citizenship Champion” badge that can proudly be displayed on their profile once they complete the course. Furthermore, educators get access to a OneNote Notebook full of resources and lesson plans.

PBS Webonauts Academy – Webonauts Internet Academy is a web game for 8-10 year olds. It gives them an opportunity to have some fun while exploring what it means to be a good digital citizen. It is quite engaging. In addition, it becomes all the more powerful when parents and teachers use the game to spark more conversations about digital citizenship.

Don’t Forget

Remember, the second standard of the ISTE Standards for Students is called Digital Citizen. As you build digital citizenship lessons, look at the indicators for this standard. These will help you in creating clear targets that students will understand and can achieve.

Let us know how you are celebrating Digital Citizenship Week in the comments below.

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research tools
Good TeachingGoogle Tips and TricksLibraries

Research Tools for Young Learners

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In a connected world, there are ample research tools available. Helping students learn how to use them grows more important with ubiquitous access. In this blog entry, we explore several online research tools that can facilitate student research.

Setting Up Class Debates

In the Hyperdoc The Great Milk Debate, fifth grade students find themselves facing a challenge: Their principal, Mrs. Hilcher, has banned chocolate milk. Here’s one possible scenario to present students with:

Students: To improve your health, after consulting with school nutritionists, we have decided to no longer allow chocolate milk to be served during breakfast and lunch. Sugar and sweets present one of the greatest threats to human beings ever. “One carton of chocolate milk includes about 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sugar in a child’s diet,” said Mr. LK.

Students are encouraged to explore both sides of the debate. Learners are tasked with examining:

  • Claim: For example, “Flavored milk gets kids to drink more milk.”
  • Evidence: “Research shows that flavored milk, which delivers nine essential nutrients, contributes just 3% of added sugars to kids’ diets versus sodas and fruit drinks.”
  • Reasoning: “Studies show that school-aged children who drink flavored milk actually drink more milk overall, have better quality diets, and do not have higher intakes of added sugar or total fat.”

The Hyperdoc provides students with a means to discover this information. The teacher who creates the Hyperdoc provides the resources students can explore. It may be advantageous for students to do their own research.

research tools

Five Online Research Tools for Children

  1. KidRex – Powered by Google Custom Search, Alarm.org’s KidRex is a search engine designed by kids for kids. Check our their page for Parents. Compare it to Searchquarium.
  2. KidzSearch – Easy-to-use search engine.
  3. Kidtopia – Provides access to a wide variety of topics, but also allows for keyword searches.
  4. Sweet Search – A search engine that provides filtered search capabilities.
  5. Fact Monster -Easily explore and learn new facts at Fact Monster by using their well-organized categories.

What’s Next

In the Hyperdoc, students take their research and use it to craft a persuasive letter attempting to convince others.

Test your preparation and your public speaking skills in The Great Milk Debate. You will be assigned to a debate team. Together you will go through each of your letters together and develop an argument defending your side against another debate team who will defend the opposite side. Each side will get two minutes to present their arguments. The winning debate team will be voted on by the audience.

Kid-friendly search engines can introduce students to search strategies, alleviating educators’ fears of encountering inappropriate content. Give them a try in your classroom.

 

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customer service
CTO/CIOCybersecurityTechnical Support

TCEA Responds: Securing Data in Cloud Storage

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to TCEA Responds #9. Submit your own question(s) online. Today’s topic is securing sensitive data. This includes data stored in cloud storage solutions like Microsoft OneDrive and/or Forms and Excel Online or Google Drive or Forms and Sheets.

Dear TCEA Responds:

My district uses Google Forms to collect parent and student data. This includes names, birth dates, phone numbers, and emails. Should I be worried? I know Google says it’s the school’s responsibility. Do you see any issues with security regarding sensitive data?

Thanks, Christi

Dear Christi:

A district-level administrator has a Google Sheet with 500 Social Security numbers for students on it. He accidentally drags it into a publicly-shared Google Drive folder. Is this a data breach or not? It depends on several factors.

While this isn’t technically a data breach since the data has yet to be stolen, a data breach could occur. If the person in question (or anyone else who has access) falls for a phishing scam and bad people get access, then the district will have a problem. If the data is not encrypted, then a data breach has occurred and the district could be liable for identity theft protection. Let’s review possible options for avoiding this situation.

Option 1 – Encrypting Data

The easiest solution (which isn’t that easy) is to avoid placing sensitive, personally-identifiable information online in a public folder where it is unknown who has access to it. If you must place sensitive data in the cloud, encrypt the file first. Once the person has obtained the file, remove the file. At no time should a decrypted file be placed online in cloud storage or emailed as an attachment. Two commercial solutions districts can use for encrypting data stored in the cloud include Cryptomator and Boxcryptor. A free solution is Secure Space Encryptor (SSE) from Paranoia Works. It’s free, open source, and works on Mac/Win/Linux/Android. It also features text encryption for iPad. You could use this because it allows you to encrypt files/folders. If the files/folders you are encrypting save to a “sync to cloud” folder (e.g. Dropbox, Drive, OneDrive), then that data is encrypted.

Option 2 – Invest in a Solution that Scans Your G Suite Domain

securing

Several solutions exist that will scan your district’s Google Suites for Education domain seeking any possible sensitive data that may have been shared with intent or not. Two solutions that I am aware of include the following (in alpha order):

Both solutions offer a variety of features, essentially scanning your cloud storage provider (e.g. Google Suites for Education or Office 365) for sensitive data. What’s more, additional rules can be set up to restrict placement of sensitive data online to prevent or quickly catch rule violations. You will want to explore these solutions through an official request for proposals (RFP) process aligned to your particular district’s processes and procedures.

Did you knowb4? A big part of protecting data involves avoiding situations, like phishing expeditions, that attempt to capture your username and password. Some school districts are turning to solutions like KnowB4, which provides security probing and awareness training. For example, a false spear phishing attack is launched against employees with the organization’s permission. This simulated attack is done without notifying the employees first. One district, for example, “sent out a baseline test to 4,390 staff and 924 clicked on it.” The district later reported that they suffered an actual attack, not simulated by KnowB4. Only one person was compromised. From 924 to one is quite an improvement.

Safeguarding Sensitive Data is Everyone’s Responsibility

Digital citizenship is often cited as an important set of habits to develop. Safeguarding sensitive data is everyone’s responsibility. Make sure district staff understand the consequences of convenient uses of cloud storage.

 

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digital literacy
Digital Literacy

Promoting Digital Literacy

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

How are you promoting digital literacy and responsible technology use to your students? In Houston ISD, we’ve launched a new campaign. We encourage students to work in different groups taking on different roles, seeing where they feel their skills fit best. We want them to explore new tools and new possibilities with new people. This is about experimenting with technology, sharing messages they feel resonate, and being creative! We are about the message, the process, the learning, the sharing – all of it comes together to form the Digital Media Literacy campaign in HISD.

Our new campaign, which you can access online, has four target goals. Those goals include:

Goal #1 – Facilitating Student Choice

literacyStudents prepare short (60- to 90-second) public service announcement (PSA) style videos about critical elements of digital citizenship (phishing, sharing online, security awareness, netiquette, etc.). Students self-select a topic from an available list, including Fake News, Cyberbullying, Login Logic, and others. For example, the Fake News topic includes:

Interesting, but is it true? Often readers believe just because something comes from a nice-looking website it has to be true. The problem with that belief is some people take advantage of others who don’t work to verify the sources for what they read. Fake news websites (also called “hoax sites” or “click bait”) deliberately publish hoaxes, propaganda, and untrue stories to trick people into visiting their website. Often the site owners get paid every time somebody clicks on a link leading to their page. These sites are different from sites with news satire, since fake sites try to profit from misleading people – not from providing entertainment. Be a careful, critical reader always looking to verify sources! This will help keep false stories from spreading around the internet.

Goal #2 – Developing Student Voice

Given the abundance of tools and apps that can amplify student voice online, students have many choices. To help students make better choices about how they use their voice in online spaces, a list of convenient tools, ranging from video to animation to stop or live action, are highlighted. Some of the tools mentioned include Animoto, Biteable, PowToon, WeVideo, and more. Once their project is complete, they can submit it via a web-based form.

Goal #3 – Connecting with an Authentic Audience

The work students create today reaches a world-wide audience, far beyond our district and/or state. Students rely on a rubric to help clarify the main aspects of their video creation. Some of the tips the rubric includes for students are:

  • Stay on topic!
  • Get permission before using someone else’s graphics, content or picture.
  • Give credit when you use someone else’s content.
  • Stay within the 60- to 90-second time limit.
  • Keep your subjects in focus and frame your shots well.

Goal #4 – Exploring Real-World Skills

As you can imagine, this project serves as an opportunity for teachers to facilitate student learning as they explore together what available technology tools will meet the needs they have for best telling their stories. Will they use Biteable, Powtoons, iMovie, PowerPoint, Sway, or something new? Who takes the role of narrator, actor, set designer, animator, story board artist, video editor?

Scaffolding Students’ Growth as Critical Consumers, Content Creators

If we say that we want students to be critical information consumers and content creators who use the internet to express themselves and collaborate with peers, that gives us a good idea of what types of behaviors we expect to see online. The tricky part is getting students to listen to this type of messaging. What we see working best is when we (the adults in the room) aren’t the ones sharing this information – but when other students do.

Curious about what we’re doing?  Visit the website.

About the Author, Samantha Rosenthal

literacySamantha Rosenthal is an Education Technology Specialist for Houston ISD. She’s committed to the idea that technology can level the playing field for all students across Houston’s 300+ square mile district. Samantha works to promote digital literacy and awareness of online safety and security among students, teachers, and parents within HISD and beyond. You can follow Samantha @rsamantha725.

 

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A toy wizard commanding a windstorm
CybersecurityDigital LiteracyLeadershipProfessional LearningTechnical Support

It’s Not the Phishing, It’s Your Lack of Influence

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Why did he click on that email attachment?” asked one technology director I spoke with recently. The click led to a ransomware attack that expanded to the business department’s server, resulting in frantic data-saving actions.  For many technology directors, the problem is not the phishing or the ransomware. The real problem is their lack of influence to bring about change in the organization. Consider this problem in light of a common occurrence in education today.

Knowing vs Doing

What is Known:

  • Hackers, phishers, and scammers want our personally-identifiable information. They can sell it for $10 or more on the darknet, where illegal transactions happen (think “Silk Road“).
  • Bad people send out emails to educators. These emails appear legitimate. They invite district staff to surrender their username and password and then send decrypted sensitive data and/or ransomware that use staff’s machines as a beachhead to infect the rest of the network.
  • Staff know NOT to fall for these traps, but do so anyways.

What is Done:

In spite of knowing these things, staff continue to click on phishing links where they happily share their username and password via an insecure website, send copies of confidential documents to complete strangers, or click on ransomware that encrypts their computer, then spreads to everyone else’s. These actions by a few individual wreak havoc on the whole network, and small districts especially are overwhelmed.

The Traditional Response

The traditional response involves disciplining staff, even terminating them in severe data breaches. They should have known better, right? Oh, but wait, your district does not have a safeguarding sensitive data policy in place! (Many districts do not, which is why I offer this one as a start). It involves buying and issuing hardware (e.g. Chromebooks, iPads, Macbooks) that malware (e.g. ransomware) can’t work its dark magic on (YET…you just know hackers subscribe to growth mindset, right?).

problem

It means locking down Windows computers with Active Directory policies: Deep Freeze so that technicians don’t have to spend a lot of time fixing user errors. This has been standard practice for years. Here’s a roundup of advice that should help districts who want to keep closing the gate after the livestock has made its getaway. That is, mopping up the mess after someone has been hacked, phished, or taken.

TCEA’s Roundup of Ideas for Safeguarding Sensitive Data

CTOs and superintendents should also register to attend the upcoming May, 2017 TCEA Technology Leadership Summit, as well as pay a small fee to access the audio and notes from the 2016 Technology Leadership Summit.

But what if there was another approach, employing motivation, influence, and authority?

A Fresh Approach: Influence

In their book, Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, the authors suggest identifying vital action(s) that can be taken. These vital actions start with the desired behavior(s) that must change. Rather than try to change twelve or more behaviors staff exhibit, focus on one or two that will have the greatest results. For example, try to encourage adoption of this behavior:

Assume emails with attachments are suspect, so verify the source of the email. This can be as easy as sending a new email to the person who contacted you and asking, “Did you send me a file attachment that says, “burnbabyburn.exe?” Wait, you can even get more done. Walk over to the person who sent you the email attachment and ask them “Did you send me a file I didn’t ask for?” Or just call them or text them on your mobile phone. This ONE behavior change would stop 99% of the issues technology departments complain about (e.g. ransomware, viruses, malware as attachments, AND sending sensitive data to complete strangers).

Changing behavior

When seeking to change behavior, the authors of Influencer recommend recognizing that there are six sources of influence. Often, we take into account only the first two when trying to bring about change:

Source 1 – Personal Motivation

Make the undesirable, desirable.
Example – Do you really care if your computers gets infected with malware and you lose data? It’s not that big a deal, after all. A technician will come fix it eventually and most of your work is done on paper anyways. Instead, you must passionately care about protecting your data and that of your students. If someone tried to take one of your students hostage, you wouldn’t be so passive.

Source 2 – Personal Ability

Surpass your limits.
Example – Do you have the skills and knowledge to know when you’ve encountered an email that is intended to do you and yours harm? You probably have an idea that you shouldn’t click on bad emails. Learn what you need to be better on guard.

Source 3 – Social Motivation

Harness peer pressure.
Example – Do others on your team or your department really care about email and email attachments? Maybe they go through their spam folder looking for problematic emails because they need a break? What if everyone on your team was motivated to help each other NOT open spam emails with attachments or to practice the desired behavior?

Source 4 – Social Ability

Find strength in numbers.
Example – Who could you speak to in the district who could help you obtain the knowledge or resources you need? Maybe there’s a SafeSchools or EduHero eCourse you can take or a free ebook you can read.

Source 5 – Structural Motivation

Design rewards and accountability.
Example – When you check your email, are there a ton of emails waiting for you, so that you despair about getting through all of them and just click on anything? Maybe you can adopt Inbox Zero strategies so that email isn’t so overwhelming. Avoid sharing your confidential data (username and password) anywhere online since it can be so easily taken.

Source 6 – Structural Ability

Change the environment.
Example – Maybe your district could adopt a different communications medium that isn’t susceptible to malware email attachments, like Slack or Microsoft Yammer or Teams.

Conclusion

While this has been a lighthearted attempt to address the challenges end users face every day, it is important to realize that changing ONE behavior can result in significant change. When you go about changing it, realize that asking people to do the right thing and training them is not going to get it done. Unleash all sources of influence to bring about the change you want.

 

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safety
CybersecurityDigital LiteracyGood Teaching

Safety, Security, and Ed Tech

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

This is a guest post by Anthony Mason (@edtechmason), a Digital Instructional Coach at Naaman Forest High School in Garland ISD.

If you talk to any parent, teacher, or principal, there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our students at home and at school. It’s our number one concern as educators.

However, even as we protect students from the analog world, we sometimes forget to teach them the skills they need to be safe in the complex, ever-changing digital world. These discussions need to happen every day in conversations, lessons, and interactions in order to encourage good digital citizenship and online safety. A good framework for students, parents, and teachers to follow is the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship.

Below are five practical ways to encourage good digital citizenship habits into students’ everyday device use and keep students thinking and talking about their online experiences and interactions with the trusted adults in their lives.

  1. Set restrictions on where and when technology can and should be used. Don’t allow devices to be used at the dinner table. Don’t allow devices to be used right before bedtime. Limit the number of hours devices can be used during leisure time.
  2. Talk to your kids daily about how they are using their devices. Whenever possible, have them use devices in a common area with appropriate supervision.
  3. “Never talk to strangers” is one of the most common ways parents and teachers teach students to protect themselves. Protect students’ privacy and keep them safe by teaching them not to share personally identifiable information of any kind online, including location information (via metadata in photos) and full name.
  4. Be a positive example and role model for students to emulate. Students will not do what you say; they will do what you do.
    So never, ever drive distracted. Model appropriate use of technology in the home, classroom, and other public settings.
  5. Always remind students to T.H.I.N.K. before they post any text, videos, and/or photographs online. Is it True? Is it Hurtful? Is it Illegal? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? Kids might not fully understand that their digital footprint is traceable and un-erasable. Recently, students have lost out on jobs and scholarships and even been kicked out of school because of negative posting online and bad digital footprints.

This is not an exhaustive list. Visit www.digitalcitizenship.net and www.commonsensemedia.org for more information on keeping our children safe and secure in a digital world and to learn more about digital citizenship. As education technology integration continues to grow and expand, parents and teachers can help students navigate the murky waters of the digital landscape with ease.

To Learn More About Digital Safety

  • The November 2016 TechEdge takes up Safety, Security, and Support, offering you stories and ideas about keeping our students and their data safe online. Watch your snail mail and email boxes for this upcoming issue.
  • On December 9, 2016, the TCEA Technology Leadership Summit: Security will be held at the TCEA Conference Center in Austin.

 

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